After an update, my computer does not boot. How do I recover?

If you updated Endless OS, and now cannot start your computer, we have a solution that will allow you to access Endless OS and all your personal data!

Whenever you update Endless OS, your computer retains the previous version you were using before the update. You can temporarily access the previous version to boot your computer and access all your files. Once our team has fixed the problem, you can update your system again to get the new version.

Here are the steps you should follow to access your previous version of Endless OS:

Press the power button to boot your computer.

You will see the firmware screen with the manufacturer's brand. Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and wait a few seconds (still holding Shift down). On some computers, the GRUB menu will appear; go to step 4. On others, you'll see the Endless logo, so you need to use another process; continue to step 3.

If the GRUB menu did not appear, turn your computer off and on again. When the firmware screen with the manufacturer's brand is about to disappear, hit the Esc key on the keyboard once and you should get access to the GRUB menu. It is quite difficult to get the timing right, because you need to hit Esc at the moment the firmware screen (like in the image below) disappears. You can try just hitting Esc twice per second from the moment the manufacturer's brand ("Acer", "ASUS", etc…) disappears from the screen.

This is the GRUB menu. Note that in the photo below, it displays two different Endless OS versions: the newest version (3.2.0 in the photo) on top, and the older version (3.1.8 in the photo) below it. If the newer version does not work on your computer, you can select the previous version with the arrow keys on your keyboard, and press Enter to start it. (You can't use your mouse in the GRUB menu: you need to use the keyboard.)

If you successfully access the GRUB menu and choose the previous version of Endless OS, it should start normally, and you will be able to log in!

Important: If you hit the Esc key in the wrong moment, maybe before the firmware screen with the manufacturer brand appears, some other screens may appear like the ones shown below. They are not the GRUB menu. If you see these screens, restart your computer and try again.

If you turn your computer off now, the next time you turn it on, the newer (faulty) version of Endless OS will be automatically selected again. So, before turning your computer off, go to Settings, choose Details, and click Check for updates now. If a new update is available, it will replace the faulty version as the default, and you will be able to restart your computer normally.

If no new update is available, please try not to turn off your computer – if you do, you will need to follow the GRUB menu steps again.